4.18.2010

man found guilty in 2007 shooting

Some news out of El Cerrito, California... earlier this month, Marcellus Allen was convicted in the 2007 shooting death of a college student who was robbed while helping his father with repairs at an apartment complex: Killer guilty in '07 shooting in El Cerrito.

Allen was found guilty in Contra Costa County Superior Court of first-degree murder, second-degree robbery and possession of an assault weapon in the slaying of 24-year-old Jinzhou Chang of Richmond. Jurors rejected an allegation that Allen personally used a firearm.

The four were identified with the help of a security camera at a Chevron gas station, where they had gone in hopes of buying gas with a credit card belonging to Chang, authorities said. They had also had tried to get gas at another station.

Chang was shot and killed about 6 p.m. July 30, 2007 as he worked with his father at an apartment complex on Belmont Avenue, less than a block behind the busy Pacific East Mall facing Interstate 80.

Huiquan Chang has said that he was on the second floor and had just sent his son to wash buckets downstairs when he heard three shots in close succession. He was horrified to find his only child fatally wounded in a stairwell, where he had staggered after being shot in the head, stomach and back.

"They shot me. They stole my wallet," his son shouted before collapsing.

The men fled in a car that was spotted on the gas station surveillance camera.

Chang came to the United States to attend Contra Costa College in San Pablo and help his father earn money as a handyman. The victim had hoped to transfer to UC Berkeley and was interested in international trade. Allen faces 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced May 14.